Merry Bloody Christmas
by angie9281
Summary: The holidays have come around again and this time around, the waitress finds herself finding more to be thankful for than resentful about with thoughts of the past inevitably resurfacing. Thanks to the company she keeps this evening, she is able to come to terms with that which she knows she has and is thankful for.


The tree was finally decorated and thanks to her brother, she had a real tree for the first time in a long time. Seemed a lot longer than it had been, anyway. The last real good Christmas she had had was the Christmas before losing her gran and as she rifled through the ornaments that were stored away yearly, once again she went down memory lane. Some memories were pleasant while others had a tinge of melancholy. Especially the ornaments she had once put up on her parents tree when she was a child. Everything that had to deal with her parents had a painful note to it, as she knew how fearful they had been about her abilities. That even after their death, her father, then having briefly taken possession of Lafayette, had wanted to go as far as to drown her for her own good. Fearing for her safety because of what she was, it was nonetheless traumatic to think on her parents. As for her grandmother, the memories were better for her gran had never judged her or made her feel bad about being different. Wanting to change up the lighting of her tree every year, as was the family tradition, she decided to put on an extra strand of the icy blue icicle lights that when put on, looked like glowing ice melting on the tree, a surreal and beautiful effect. Silver tinsel, for obvious reasons, were out of the question considering the people who came and went in this house and though not pure silver, the slight trace within the material was enough to give her pause. But the blue glow of her tree was a calming, serene and of course pretty sight to behold and as she put the ornaments and trinkets from holidays past on the branches, she looked at the older ones, ornaments she had made herself and those given to her by her parents. A melancholy feeling took her over as her feelings, her memories of her parents would always be tainted. That they had feared her abilities and that her father, having briefly possessed Lafayette when she had had a séance with him to try to get answers from her parents, had tried drowning her…..well, it was painful. To have your own parents so fearful that they would think she was better off dead. Yeah, she knew her mother and father had loved her but knowing what she had come to learn, she had been thankful to have had her grandmothers around. Someone who had never judged her for her abilities and accepted her for who she was. Powers and all. There were others who she had met over the last years since learning what and who she was who had never judged her for her abilities and had encouraged her to embrace them. She had much to be grateful for, the people, her experiences that had helped shape her into a stronger woman. She sighed as she reached for a tissue paper wrapped object that was in one of the boxes she had brought down from the attic crawlspace. And opening it, she found the star that had been in her family for decades. Names had been written and etched on its surface by their owners and as she traced her hand over her grandmothers name that was written with a shiny blue sharpie marker, she opened the clasp and as the star spread open, she saw the two photos that had been carefully tucked away in it. One of her and her brother and their parents, one of her and her brother and her grandmother. Closing them back into the star, she set the stat atop the tree, the icing on the cake, as it were. Stepping back from her tree, she put her ladder aside and tidied up, pleased with her work she had accomplished. Throwing her pajamas on, she threw her old pink bathrobe on with matching slippers on and plopped on her couch to watch one of her favorite Christmas movies. As she hit the button for the DVD to start up, the opening strains of Christmas Vacation were interrupted by a knock at her door. And she was somewhat shocked to find her Viking standing there and she found it odd he hadn't just let himself in. they loved together, after all, though generally, he did prefer the cabin be had built on her property. More his taste. As she moved back to let him in, she was concerned at first. "You Don't need to knock, this place is as yours as it is mine, you know."

He seemed distracted. A odd occurrence for Eric, indeed but as he sat on the couch and looked at the freeze-frame of the TV, the moment Clark Griswold was midway through sledding down the hill at insane speeds, he laughed. "You know, I've never seen this before. Movies and TV generally aren't my thing. Christmas, generally, is not my thing."

"What's with the knocking though, I mean…..its weird. Even for you." she said slapping him on the knee as she sat on the couch beside him. He looked at her tree with slight amazement.

"The décor looks good. Very festive." he replied. "the holiday has brought the most drunken hillbillies to the bar and I had to get out of there. Pam said I did because I was this close to tearing the head off some redneck what kept trying to harass my dancers. And Ginger, for some reason….." he smirked. "Don't think I don't look after my employees."

"I never thought you didn't." Sookie said with a grin. "I…." she paused as he removed his leather jacked and his black tank was certainly not too clean. "You didn't….."

"I didn't kill him but I helped myself to a bite and threatened him. That if he came back, I would finish the job." the Viking said as he threw the jacket aside and removed his tank, tossing them to the ground, to which she stood up and put her hands on her hips. He was trying to toy with her, she knew, so she decided to keep the playacting going, throwing the clothes back in his amused face. And she sat back down with a sigh, sipping from her glass of white wine she had poured herself and me made a face. "You deserve better than the boxed crap." he said and she was amused.

"You cant even drink wine, how can you tell…." she sighed. "That's right, you've been around forever, your talents know now bounds."

"Its about time you realize that." he said, leaning back with a smirk. He was focused on her tree and got up, examining the ornaments on the tree. "It really is….beautiful." he said, the use of that word still somewhat foreign to him. He opened the star and took out the photos within and he felt for her. Knowing how crappy her parents had been. If only he had gotten to meet them, if only he had known her grandmother… he gently replaced the star and looked at her. "With all we lost this year, Aurora….that we still have so many left with us…..its is certainly something to be grateful for, don't you think?"

"The pain of losing our daughter….its not ever going to go away. Knowing she died trying to the right thing, to protect her loved ones…..I take comfort in that. And yeah, I am glad we still have so many loved ones with us still. Our son, your sister, Pam and Willa, Jason….I could go on….."

Ignoring the bloodstained clothes that she could smell quite well, thanks to her enhanced senses, she almost felt a pang of blood lust come over her. Being a faerie/vamp hybrid, she was unsurprised but hated the timing of it. Though she didn't need to have a sip often, when the craving hit, it was almost as bad as getting ones monthly. She ignored the tingling sensation on her moth that signaled her fangs wanting to come out to play. Instead, she took another sip of wine. "Holidays always make me feel weird. I'm happy and sad, I miss my loved ones and yet am thankful for who I still have." she patted his knee and scented the blood again and she shuddered, not wanting to act on what she was feeling. Usually, she was quite controlled but perhaps it was the weight of the holidays taking her over but she soon found herself on his lap, her intentions very clear to the briefly stunned looking Viking. "Its only Christmas eve, how about unwrapping something a little early?"

"You know, I did catch that SNL special, out of morbid curiosity the other night….I did get some ideas from one sketch where these two guys were singing about a certain something in a box…" he nipped at her neck as she laughed boisterously.

"OMG." she said. "Leave it to you to take a sweet moment and turn it completely the other way." she paused. "Well, its better than a bloodbath on Christmas eve….why don't you let me change into something more festive and we can get some unwrapping done…..but only after I make you watch this movie. it's a classic." she hit the rewind button on the remote and the DVD went back to the beginning stills of the movie. And as she changed, she left the still smirking, saucy Viking with a mix of thoughts that were all scrambled. Form sweet, to nostalgic to bloody and raw. She returned a few moments later in a barely there candy cane printed negligee. "I bought two because I worried that you may get a little carried away." she threw her bathrobe over her figure, cutting off his view that he always appreciated. "Movie now, dessert later." she said, waggling a finger.

""No snacking during a movie?" he pouted, knowing how damn cute he was, now irresistible he was to her. She relented and let him sip a little from her neck as the opening credits of the film rolled.

"Enough. Watch this movie, it's a classic." she said as she threw a blanket over herself and settled herself cozily on the couch, ignoring her neck, whish he was taking care to clean up for her. And it tickled as he did so, thus turning her attention back to him. Giggling, she elbowed him as he worked his hands to tickle her elsewhere. "Keep this up and ill keep pausing the movie and you'll never get your present."

He gave her a feigned look of terror and leaned back against the couch. "I'll behave…I suppose." he watched as she started the film up yet again. "You are such a tease though…"

"You'll like this movie, I promise. it's a riot." she said as she leaned her head on his shoulder and patted his leg. "Patience. Though I know that's never really been your strong point."

He smirked. "I've got plenty of other strong points to my name." he said and she took in the double entendre with a laugh. But finally, they settled in and watched the whole film and she was amused that he did, in fact, seem amused, almost befuddled by the comedy classic. "That Eddie character…..almost reminds me of your brother."

She gave him a look as she got up, turning the TV off and scoffed. "You aren't as cute as you may think you are."

"I think I am." he retorted as she gave him a demure look. "I'm heading to bed. One more smartass remark and no dessert for you. No unwrapping this present." she said, her threat emptier than a Kardashian skull. He knew she was kidding but dared not risk the chance that she may well keep her threat. Grinning to himself, he goosed her as he passed her up the stairs, knowing without a doubt she really enjoyed the little cat and mouse game. It was to be a merry Christmas after all. For both of them. And her way of thinking was, as she settled into bed beside him, both of them starting to nip at one another's necks, what was a little blood over the holidays?

 **THE END**


End file.
